#childrenscentre

[rebeccastackauthor]

Gordon flew his way to the Serennu Children's Centre courtesy of my latest lovely raffle winner Zico. They loved it thanks Zico and are putting him in their Giraffe clinic room for all the children who come to get treated xx

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[billygentley-blog]

On the subject of institutionalisation . . .

I am particularly interested in the aspect of institutionalisation in this work. This makes a real difference in the approach to therapeutic work. There are several things which prevail in the presentation of the children and how they might respond to care and support, as well as how one looks at the wider picture. Some are obvious, others not so much. I found some articles and research papers and this is what I took from them as relevant to my experience so far. The links are here, you can read them if you are interested. I will post some bits though:

http://www.udayancare.org/iceb-journal/images/Gowry%20_Abstract.pdf. :

• All aspects of life occur in the same place, controlled by one authority. • Each aspect of daily activity is carried out by others who are all treated the same. (Not sure all are treated the same). • All aspects are rigidly programmed. -The separation of staff and inmates is often maintained.

One of the girls quoted that “I don’t like the warden. She used to scold us often and call us orphans and donkeys. She always wants us to do what she tells us otherwise she beats us up. She has a child who is also living with her in the home, and she takes good care of her child only. She always uses offensive language with us and this is why I don’t like her. When she scolds me I used to sit alone or go and talk to my other friends. I used to think and cry, and wonder why, god has given us so much sadness. This may be the fate of orphans like me.”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_syndrome. :

Romanian children who suffered from severe neglect at a young age were adopted by families. Research reveals that the post-institutional syndrome occurring in these children gave rise to symptoms of autistic behavior. Studies done on eight Romanian adoptees living in the Netherlands revealed that about one third of the children exhibited behavioral and communication problems resembling that of autism.

http://www.ocd.pitt.edu/Default.aspx?webPageID=283&parentPageId=5. :

Helping nations develop comprehensive and professional child welfare systems with an emphasis on family alternatives over institutional care is an endeavor several international and national organizations, as well as private foundations, are undertaking, including UNICEF, USAID, the Oak Foundation and others.

The challenges are daunting, particularly in countries whose resources for creating such systems are low. Simply legislating that young children shouldn’t be raised in institutions is not enough to ensure the environments they are raised in are better. Well-functioning child welfare systems require substantial up-front investment. Some family alternatives, such as adoption, can be controversial. In fact, some religions forbid adoption, although alternatives are often possible.

Research offers these nations some guidance having identified several key requirements for developing an effective professional child welfare system.[xiii] For example:

Local policymakers and practitioners should lead the development of care arrangements to make sure they are tailored to fit their local populations, cultures and populations. Solutions that work in one country may not be a good fit in others. Advisors and international organizations, therefore, might be most helpful by providing local professionals and policymakers with multiple options and information about each. Nations need to develop a professional social work infrastructure to support child welfare systems. Social services for at-risk children and families are either not well developed or available at all in many low-resource countries. And developing one would likely take many years. A professional social work infrastructure is critical to another requirement for developing a child welfare system: Parents need to be recruited, trained, supported and monitored. Financial investment and the support of a professional social services network are required to help at-risk parents through difficult circumstances and adequately provide for their children so they stand a better chance of retaining custody and avoid having their children placed in institutions, foster care or other alternative arrangements. Family alternatives take time and may not go smoothly when first implemented, placing a premium on persistence and a steady commitment to improvement. In the Ukraine, for example, many requirements for family alternatives were in place, yet after five years only 6,700 children were in such arrangements while 45,000 remained in institutions.[xiv] In addition to emphasizing the benefits of developing quality child welfare systems focused on family alternatives, studies underscore the importance of moving children out of institutions and into such arrangements as soon as possible. Another challenge for nations in building child welfare systems, therefore, is to develop policies that strike a balance between the custody rights of birth parents and children’s best interests while keeping the time children spend in institutions awaiting placement to a minimum.